Vacation memories: Canal walk ties Oklahoma City history and present
Part of an ongoing series reviewing past trips:
Oklahoma City’s past collides with its future in the Bricktown district. The former warehouse district is home to shopping and dining, as well as waterway trip into its history.
The Bricktown Canal (Riverwalk) runs a little more than a half mile from the business area to a park, where water taxis taking visitors on a scenic view of the area can turn around.
Let’s start our tour there. The canal walk offers visitors a view into Oklahoma’s early days, when it became known as the “Sooner” state.
A large sculpture exhibit highlights the start of the Land Rush, when people could cross into the Oklahoma territory and claim their land. Some of the would-be Oklahomans jumped the gun and started their chase for land before the cannon sounded to officially start the proceedings.
Men and families used every available transportation method to get to their new farmsteads – wagons, horses, buggies, even their feet.
You can see a view from one wagon along the canal bank with the skyscraper for Devon Energy in the background. This, to me, sums up Oklahoma City’s rise from its pioneer days to its future.
Walking along the canal, you get another peak into the area’s history – a sculpture of a Kiowa Native American. Oklahoma has long been considered “Indian Country” and the statue recognizes it. The state was the end of the trail for Cherokees, Choctaws and other tribes on the forced “Trail of Tears” in the mid-1800s.
Farther along the walk, you can see some of the current attractions, including Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill. OKC is one of a few cities to have the restaurant.
Once you make it to Bricktown District, you notice the huge Sonic sign on a building. That is the corporate headquarters of the fast food chain.
As you continue your walk into the canal’s business area, a set of murals welcomes visitors. The paintings are copies of actual post cards highlighting OKC.
Bricktown has a ton of stores and restaurants people can check out.
As you look at the end of the canal, a tile mural recognizes the native history of the region.
More attractions are available in Bricktown, beyond the canal.
The American Banjo Museum calls the area home.
Bricktown recognizes its local celebrities with street signs, such as Mickey Mantle and the Flaming Lips.
Minor league baseball is played at Bricktown. The Oklahoma City Dodgers are the AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They changed their name for the 2015 after having been the RedHawks for the past several years. The Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark honors players from the state with a version of a “Hall of Fame,” featuring busts of Oklahomans who played major league baseball.
However, three native sons who achieved the most success have their statues.
Mickey Mantle (New York Yankees) has a full-sized statue standing outside the entrance to the ball park.
Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench’s statue stands not far away in an open part of the plaza, as if welcoming visitors or teasing runners to try to steal a base from him.
Warren Spahn is displayed in his famous stretch. he won 363 games over 21 seasons in professional baseball. he won a Cy Young award as the best pitcher in baseball in 1957. He was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. He appeared in several All-Star games.
Bricktown is a nice area to walk day or night. We visited some nice stores, such as the Painted Door during the evening.
We enjoyed our visit to the Bricktown District and thoroughly enjoyed the canal walk and its views. Bricktown offers visitors a lot with attractions, shopping and dining. We recommend visiting the area when in Oklahoma City.
For more information on Oklahoma City attractions, please visit www.visitokc.com.